ReadWrite - googlehttp://readwrite.com/tag/google
enCopyright 2015 Wearable World Inc.http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rssTue, 03 Mar 2015 10:18:22 -0800Sundar Pichai: Here's How You Ought To Think About Google<!-- tml-version="2" --><p>Looked at one way, Google is an online advertising company with a lot of peripheral—and mostly not-very-profitable—side businesses in mobile devices and Internet service. Looked at another, it's an ambitious-bordering-on-crackpot technological innovator that just happens to make its money from ads.</p><p>Google, of course, prefers the latter characterization. So it wasn't any big surprise when Sundar Pichai, Google’s senior vice president of product, took the stage at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Monday to offer some insight into Google’s mindset and clues as to what lies ahead for the Android platform. </p><p>Pichai started with a quick outline of Google's various techno-initiatives, including the Project Loon effort to spread the Internet to developing regions with balloons and lightweight airplanes, on-the-fly language translation and tools for things like mobile development, virtual reality and mobile payments. Android is merely one puzzle piece in Google’s master plan—assuming, of course, you believe that there really is a master plan. </p><p>To help you understand the way Google wants you to think about it, Pichai explained that the company is really made up of three things: an information platform, a computing platform and a "platform for connectivity.” That's the rubric by which Google explains its&nbsp;varied and disparate initiatives.</p><p>Ultimately, of course, Google's plan is to keep people using its services and to grow that user base in a variety of ways. Because, well, advertising.</p><div tml-image="ci01c873ab00019512" tml-image-caption="" tml-render-layout="inline"><figure><img src="http://a4.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTI4NDc5NzY2MzE0NTQ1MTIy.jpg" /><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div><p>Android, clearly, is the computing component. "We’ve built an open platform, which makes all this possible,” Pichai said, referring to the numerous incarnations of the software that operates a growing array of gadgets. Currently, Google's software runs smartphones, tablets, smartwatches and fitness bands, televisions, car infotainment systems, and that’s just for starters.&nbsp;</p><p>When interviewer Brad Stone, from Bloomberg BusinessWeek, asked Pichai what people might be buzzing about at next year’s conference, the Google executive cited everything from wearables to virtual reality devices.&nbsp;</p><div tml-image="ci01c873afd001efe2" tml-image-caption="" tml-render-layout="inline"><figure><img src="http://a1.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTI4NDc5Nzg1OTEwMzIzMjEw.jpg" /><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div><p>“I’m excited about newer categories like VR, [but] for me, the power of what you see is not just in devices,” he said. “These are computing devices connected to the cloud. When you look at things like machine learning [or] ‘AI’—in terms of the type of computing work that you’re doing, they make these experiences much more powerful.”&nbsp;</p><p>He sees Google focusing on that over the next few years, to make competing experiences much more “seamless” and “intelligent for users.” Pichai didn't talk specifics, but the oblique references suggest Android will become much smarter about learning what its users want and predicting what they'll need, and making decisions for users across the gadgets it governs.&nbsp;</p><p>“[Our] computing has been working on automating what people can do with their devices,” Pichai added. The company may already seem to be doing a little bit of everything, but Pichai suggests Google thinks its task is just beginning. "We’re at this exciting stage where we can do more.”&nbsp;</p><p><em>Photos by Adriana Lee for ReadWrite</em></p>The tech giant's big picture now—and in the future.http://readwrite.com/2015/03/02/google-pichai-google-future-android
http://readwrite.com/2015/03/02/google-pichai-google-future-androidWebMon, 02 Mar 2015 09:45:53 -0800Adriana LeeGoogle+ Is Poised For A Big Breakup<!-- tml-version="2" --><p>Some major restructuring is going on at Google+, and it looks like it's the end of the social network as we know it—if that label was ever appropriate in the first place. Long-time Google VP Bradley Horowitz has announced that he's <a href="https://plus.google.com/+BradleyHorowitz/posts/TCABnE5Jkwh">taking the management reins</a> from David Besbris and splitting Google+ into separate services called Photos and Streams at the same time.</p><p>For the moment, details on exactly what that means are thin on the ground. Photos is fairly obviously the image taking, editing and sharing elements of Google+, but Streams is something new: It's apparently the <a href="http://www.cnet.com/news/reorg-splits-google-into-photos-and-streams-with-new-boss/">river of Google+ posts</a> that's going to be left when everything else has been stripped out. (Hangouts will live on as a standalone messaging/video-conferencing service, although Horowitz won't be managing it.)</p><blockquote><p><strong>See also: <a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/05/20/photos-google-plus-auto-awesome">Great Photos Won't Save Google+</a></strong></p></blockquote><p>"It’s important to me that these changes are properly understood to be positive improvements to both our products and how they reach users," Horowitz wrote in his post, which gives you some indication of how Google will spin this when it finally gets around to making an official announcement.</p><h2>Google+ Falls Apart</h2><p>In <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/miguelhelft/2015/02/26/exclusive-sundar-pichais-plan-to-keep-google-almighty/">an interview with Forbes last week</a>, Google's senior VP of products Sundar Pichai hinted that Google+ was about to be dismantled into separate parts. It's a theme he returned to on stage at Mobile World Congress today, telling Bloomberg's Brad Stone:</p><blockquote tml-render-layout="inline"><p>For us, Google+ was always two things, one was a stream and a social layer. The stream has a passionate community of users, but the second goal was even larger for us. We're at a point where things like photos and communications are very important, [and] we're reorganizing around that.</p></blockquote><p>While adding that Hangouts would remain a Google product, Pichai didn't elaborate on how Google+ is going to evolve into Streams, or when it would happen. If the "social layer" is decoupled from the posting, +1-ing and commenting aspects of Google+, as Pichai suggests, then the network is likely to become more insular, not less. It's possible that Google is looking for a more instant, real-time, Twitter-style network that can help augment its search results.</p><blockquote><p><strong>See also:&nbsp;</strong><strong><a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/07/31/foursquare-facebook-linkedin-unbundling">Why Download One Facebook App When Eight Will Do?</a></strong></p></blockquote><p>Even the dominant player Facebook has been busy diverging into smaller, more focused areas through <a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/04/23/whatsapp-facebook-instagram-billion-users">the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp</a>. The plethora of experimental apps released separately by Facebook—Messenger, Home, Rooms and Groups—are an indication that the future of social networking lies in smaller apps rather than one all-encompassing platform. It seems like Google has gotten this message as well.</p><p><em>Photo by David Nield for ReadWrite</em></p>Photos and "Streams" will head off as independent services.http://readwrite.com/2015/03/02/google-plus-splitting-up
http://readwrite.com/2015/03/02/google-plus-splitting-upSocialMon, 02 Mar 2015 07:05:26 -0800David NieldFacebook Will Enhance Your Photos For You<!-- tml-version="2" --><div tml-image="ci01c24611c001c80a" tml-image-caption="" tml-bad-render-layout="inline"><figure><img src="http://a5.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTI2NzQwNzgwNDk1Njc4MDgz.jpg" /><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div><p>Facebook will auto-enhance newly uploaded photos beginning Tuesday, TechCrunch’s Josh Constine <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2014/12/16/enhance-enhance-enhance/">reports</a>. </p><blockquote tml-bad-render-layout="inline"><p><strong>See also: </strong><a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/06/12/facebook-tracking-websites-ads"><strong>Facebook Is Going To Start Tracking You Even More Closely</strong></a></p></blockquote><p>In the age of the smartphone, everyone carries a camera around wherever they go. That doesn’t mean we’re all professional photographers though, or that we want to be. Facebook’s new automated service will make it so users don’t have to worry about DIY filtering.</p><p>Before the change was implemented, Facebook would show you your unedited photo, give you an option to apply a one-size-fits-all enhancement, or tweak it yourself. Facebook says the automatic enhancement will be faster and more custom than the status quo.</p><p>Facebook isn’t the only social site that’s focused on making image sharing simpler. <a href="https://twitter.com/twittermobile/status/539878214441918466">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://blog.instagram.com/">Instagram</a> both just rolled out new filters. In lieu of filters, Google+ offers an <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/google-hangouts-and-photos-save-some.html">auto-enhance function</a> similar to the one Facebook is implementing now.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Photo by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cubmundo/6748759375/">Cubmundo</a></em></p>Computers are better at it anywayhttp://readwrite.com/2014/12/17/facebook-will-auto-enhance-photos
http://readwrite.com/2014/12/17/facebook-will-auto-enhance-photosSocialWed, 17 Dec 2014 08:16:54 -0800Lauren OrsiniGoogle May Be About To Blow Up Email With Its "Inbox" App<!-- tml-version="2" --><div tml-image="ci01bdab675003c80a" tml-image-caption=""><figure><img src="http://a5.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTI1NDQ0ODIzMjM3OTA0Mzk0.jpg" /><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div><p>Google may have just <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2014/10/an-inbox-that-works-for-you.html">dropped a bomb on traditional email</a> with "Inbox," a new app for Web and mobile that appears to break a lot of long-standing email tropes.</p><p>Inbox looks like a mobile-focused cross between Gmail, Google+ and Google Now. It scans your mail for important information such as flight times, appointments and emailed photos or documents, highlighting them with images, tags and buttons that draw your attention and let you take action (for instance, by confirming a flight).</p><div tml-image="ci01bdab6750019512" tml-image-caption="Travel reminders pop out of your regular email stream"><figure><img src="http://a1.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTI1NDQ0ODIzMjM3Nzk4NTMx.jpg" /><figcaption>Travel reminders pop out of your regular email stream</figcaption></figure></div><p>Goggle's new email app steals a helpful feature from Dropbox's Mailbox app that lets you "snooze" emails and reminders for a day, a week or any other time you like, letting you effectively postpone less urgent messages.</p><div tml-image="ci01bdab6730019512" tml-image-caption="Hit the snooze button on email"><figure><img src="http://a4.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTI1NDQ0ODIyOTY5MzkxNTgy.jpg" /><figcaption>Hit the snooze button on email</figcaption></figure></div><p>It also lets you set reminders at the top of your screen that you can dismiss with a swipe. (It may also set some of these automatically.) Some examples:</p><div tml-image="ci01bdab675001c80a" tml-image-caption=""><figure><img src="http://a2.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/MTI1NDQ0ODIzMjM3ODQ5MDU4.gif" /><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div><p>Finally, the new app reimagines Gmail's current "tab" structure, which automatically sorts email into your main inbox and separate bins for social, promotions, updates and forums. In Inbox, related clusters of email become "bundles" you can open up and save or archive. Supposedly you'll be able to teach Inbox how to group email over time.</p><blockquote><p><strong>See also: <a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/10/20/gmail-50-multiple-email-account-support">Google's Gmail App Is Ready To Start Managing All Your Other Email Accounts</a></strong></p></blockquote><p>There is, of course, a catch: You might not be seeing Inbox yourself very soon. Google is once again rationing access to the app—much the way it <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gmail">originally did with Gmail back in 2004</a>—so you need to request an invitation by emailing inbox@google.com. (Presumably Google won't keep Inbox an invite-only service for three whole years.)&nbsp;Existing users will get to invite their friends as well.</p><p>In the meantime, here's Google's introduction-to-Inbox video:</p><p><em>Screencaps from Google's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzNTjpUMOp4">Inbox video</a></em></p>Think smarter email that doesn't always look like email.http://readwrite.com/2014/10/22/google-inbox-deconstructing-email
http://readwrite.com/2014/10/22/google-inbox-deconstructing-emailSocialWed, 22 Oct 2014 13:37:53 -0700David HamiltonCan Anyone Remember Facebook's Last Original Idea?<!-- tml-version="2" --><div tml-image="ci01a8bfd82391860b" tml-image-caption=""><figure><img src="http://a5.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTIzMDQ5NjY1MTk4NTIzOTE2.jpg" /><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div><p>Can you remember the last time Facebook launched a successful consumer-facing application that didn't try and copy other apps? I can't.&nbsp;</p><p>Its most recent attempts, <a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/06/09/facebook-slingshot-snapchat-poke-ephemeral-messaging">Slingshot</a> and <a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/02/03/facebook-paper-splashes-new-coat-paint-news-feed">Paper</a>, have yet to catch on with the social network's one billion-plus user base, and both ripped off ideas that made other apps—Snapchat and Flipboard—popular.</p><p>So when I read that Facebook is reportedly creating yet <em>another</em> consumer application that copies features from popular social apps, I had one question: Why?</p><h2>Give Us A Moment. On Second Thought, Don't</h2><p>Its latest Frankenstein experiment is codenamed Moments,&nbsp;<a href="http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/16/facebook-moments/">according to TechCrunch</a>, not to be confused with the company's <a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/07/17/facebook-mentions-celebrities">celeb-only app Mentions</a>. The application is attempting to make sharing privately between different groups easier, so you won't share updates with your Facebook friends who might not actually be your friends.</p><p>As TechCrunch’s Josh Constine explains it: </p><blockquote><p>Moments could help people who’ve: &nbsp; &nbsp;</p><p>Shared a status with too many or too few people by accident because they didn’t understand Facebook’s privacy settings</p><p>Don’t share often or censor themselves because they don’t want to blast what they’re doing or thinking to all their friends and acquaintances</p><p>Switched to private messaging for intimate sharing, but would prefer the more orderly style of feedback instead of haphazard replies</p><p>Been embarrassed by friends and family mixing in the comment reels of your photos, like when Mom recounts how you cried when you got cut from the soccer team…in full view of your new crush.</p></blockquote><p>Sure, Facebook’s privacy settings can be confusing when you want to share with only certain people, and the company’s recent efforts to <a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/04/11/facebook-privacy-controls-hand-them-over">better educate users</a> on who they're sharing personal information with have ramped up in recent months.&nbsp;</p><p>But if Facebook can’t help people figure out how and what they’re sharing in one particular application, how will launching an entirely different application—complete with a new set of privacy settings—make that any easier?</p><p>Additionally, Facebook's "Lists" feature already provides the option for users to create separate groups and have more control over who sees what updates. (Just for fun I took a look at my own list settings—I have exactly two people under "Family.")</p><blockquote><p><strong>See also: <a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/07/31/foursquare-facebook-linkedin-unbundling">Why Download One Facebook App When Eight Will Do?</a></strong></p></blockquote><p>Moments appears to be a cross between Path, the private social network that was a favorite among early adopters but slowly declined in popularity, and Google+ Circles, those groups in the social network that are supposed to make managing your friends lists easier. </p><p>Path and Google+. Huh. At least stealing ephemeral messaging from Snapchat made sense. Now Facebook isn’t even copying successful rivals. </p><h2>More Apps! More! More! More!</h2><p>Facebook's bad case of me-tooism is contributing to a broader trend you might call app inflation. For whatever reason, many big social networks have decided to split themselves up into <a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/07/31/foursquare-facebook-linkedin-unbundling">families of loosely related apps</a>. The aim appears to be to appeal to different audiences with single-purpose apps that duplicate particular functions of these Web-based services.</p><p>Yet it hasn't gone swimmingly.&nbsp;<a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/05/16/foursquare-swarm-location-services-apps">Foursquare’s massive push</a> to separate check-ins and friends list was met with lukewarm acceptance. Facebook’s attempts to force people <a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/04/09/facebook-requires-users-to-download-messenger-in-order-to-chat-on-mobile">out of the main Facebook app and into Facebook Messenger</a> have frustrated users as well.&nbsp;</p><p>App inflation might not be the best way to win consumer attention, given the glut of options people face. According to a <a href="http://info.localytics.com/blog/time-in-app-increases-by-21-across-all-apps">study by Localytics</a>, the time consumers spend in applications increased 21% over the past year—good news for these app makers, you'd think. And at first glance, that looks <em>great</em>&nbsp;for&nbsp;social networking apps, which saw a 49% increase in "time in app" between August 2013 and August 2014.</p><p>But that growth in time spent with social networking apps is much less impressive than it looks. These apps, it turns out, are primarily used for what Localytics calls "snacking." People open them frequently, but they don't stick around that long. Social apps, it turns out, commanded user attention for only about 2.5 minutes at a time—way below music, entertainment, sports, games and news.</p><p>This is all open to interpretation, of course. Maybe people are "snacking" more precisely because the social companies are busting up their apps into little app constellations, forcing users to frantically open multiple apps where they once used just one. Or maybe people are dividing their attention across apps for multiple services, suggesting that their appetite for even more apps is probably limited.</p><p>Either way, it's hard to see how app inflation—whether by copycats or the debris created by the explosion of bigger apps—will improve things much.</p><p>Facebook has yet to confirm the existence of the Moments app, and the company declined to comment for this article. But if it is indeed the latest addition to the company's app arsenal, it probably won't gain much more traction that those Google+ Circles we all so lovingly set up, then proceeded to forget about.</p><p>But hey, at least it might be pretty.</p><p><em>Lead photo by <a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/07/17/facebook-mentions-celebrities">Juhan Sonin</a></em></p>Its new apps are all just copycats.http://readwrite.com/2014/09/17/facebook-originality-is-dead
http://readwrite.com/2014/09/17/facebook-originality-is-deadSocialWed, 17 Sep 2014 07:00:00 -0700Selena LarsonIn Its First Driver’s Test, Google’s Autonomous Car Was “Overly Cautious”<!-- tml-version="2" --><div tml-image="ci01b52904bd66860c" tml-image-caption=""><figure><img src="http://a2.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTI0NTg1MjE4ODE5NTUwNzYy.jpg" /><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div><p>What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas—unless you’re test-driving Google’s self-driving car.</p><p>A smart Prius Google configured to operate autonomously became the first self-driving car to pass a government driving test <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/07/tech/nevada-driveless-car/index.html?iref=allsearch">back in May 2012</a>. Few details released at the time dove into what went on behind the scenes during tests with the Nevada DMV, but according to documents recently <a href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/transportation/advanced-cars/how-googles-autonomous-car-passed-the-first-us-state-selfdriving-test">obtained by IEEE Spectrum</a>, Google had control over the test conditions, including the route and specific weather conditions.</p><p>The documents also show that a Google engineer had to take over control of the vehicle twice, and the head of the DMV thought the car moved too slowly. The car was “perhaps overly cautious approaching some lights,” he wrote. </p><p>Despite the two instances when the driver needed to go hands-on, the car dealt remarkably well with errant pedestrians, freeways, and busy intersections in and around the Las Vegas strip.</p><div tml-image="ci01a8bfd8218c860b" tml-image-caption=""><figure><img src="http://a5.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTIzMDQ5NjY1MTcwMDE1NzU2.jpg" /><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div><div tml-image="ci01b7298ab9ee860e" tml-image-caption=""><figure><img src="http://a2.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTIzMDQ5NjY1MTcwMDgxMjky.jpg" /><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div><p>Google’s attempts to disrupt transportation have grown considerably since this test. The company is now building <a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/05/28/googles-driverless-car-future">100 self-driving car prototypes</a>, and has released details about what these cars of the future might look like. </p><p>When California’s driverless-car testing regulations go <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-consumer-watchdog-warns-dmv-on-googles-driverless-car-20140610-story.html">into effect on Tuesday</a>, drivers might start seeing even more autonomous cars on the road. But if these cars are anything like their predecessor that passed the first test with flying colors, fellow drivers and commuters might not even notice whether a human is driving them or not.</p><p><em>Lead image by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cblue98/7551413894">Saad Faruqe</a>;&nbsp;DMV images courtesy of Mark Harris at IEEE Spectrum</em></p>And to pass, it had some help.http://readwrite.com/2014/09/16/google-driverless-car-dmv-las-vegas
http://readwrite.com/2014/09/16/google-driverless-car-dmv-las-vegasWebTue, 16 Sep 2014 06:00:00 -0700Selena LarsonAndroid One Lands In India, Promising Cheap But Decent Smartphone<!-- tml-version="2" --><div tml-image="ci01b7298ab8c9860e" tml-image-caption=""><figure><img src="http://a3.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,w_620/MTIzMDQ5NjY1MTUxMDEwMzE2.png" /><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div><p>While Apple <a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/09/15/iphone-6-iphone-6-plus-launch-day-sales-numbers">pats itself on the back</a> over its set of bigger, premium smartphones, Android has been sharpening its focus on budget handsets for emerging markets.</p><p>Now <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.sg/2014/09/for-next-five-billion-android-one.html">Google has announced that its low-end device, the Android One</a>, launched today in India. The company, which first divulged plans back at the Google I/O developer conference last June, has enlisted Taiwanese chipset maker MediaTek, maker of low-cost mobile processors.&nbsp;</p><h2>Chips Ahoy!</h2><p>"Our goal was to develop high quality smartphones at an affordable price, with access to connectivity, done at scale around the world," Android chief Sundar Pichai previously <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-29203249">told the BBC</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>To simplify and streamline the production process, he said, Google will offer original equipment manufacturers a set of predetermined hardware options for the GPU (graphics processing unit), storage capacity, battery type, camera and CPU (central processing unit, or processor).&nbsp;</p><div tml-image="ci01b7298ab8cb860e" tml-image-caption=""><figure><img src="http://a4.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTE5NDg0MDYzNzEzMTAxMzI3.jpg" /><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div><p>The latter officially gets a new option: <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/101999728#.">MediaTek's MT6582 Mobile System-on-Chip</a> (Mobile SoC). This processor will be a key offering for budget smartphone partners, which include Micromax, Karbonn and Spice.&nbsp;</p><p>The Taiwanese company’s SoC (so-called because it crams the equivalent of an entire computing system onto a single chip) is based on somewhat recent quad ARM Cortex A7 processors. While that’s not a cutting-edge CPU delivering the height of performance now, it’s a fairly recent model that still provides a better experience than you might expect from a low-end smartphone.&nbsp;</p><h2>But When The Chips Are Down...</h2><p>Unfortunately, MediaTek chips suffered some bad press this summer, thanks to an odd hack that emerged.&nbsp;</p><p>MediaTek chips are extremely common in countries like China, and <a href="http://www.gizchina.com/2014/06/23/yet-another-potential-security-issue-found-chinese-phones/">Chinese tech site GizChina</a> picked up <a href="http://www.golem.de/news/android-smartphones-lassen-sich-per-sms-zum-neustart-zwingen-1406-107372.html">a report last June</a> about some MediaTek-based Android phones being vulnerable to a remote reboot attack via a simple SMS message.&nbsp;</p><p>According to a blogger named “<a href="http://korben.info/faire-planter-telephone-wiko.html">Korben</a>” (link in French), the symbol “=“ was actually part of MediaTek’s chipset language, meaning "shutdown and reboot.” (To see him demo the hack, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TS12MK0oHc">click here</a>.)</p><p>It's not clear yet whether this exploit has been addressed, or if it will affect the 1.3GHz MediaTek MT6582 SoC chips in the new Android Ones.&nbsp;</p><h2>"Android One" May Soon Be Many</h2><p>Overall, the first Android Ones from Micromax, Karbonn and Spice offer a few decent specifications.&nbsp;</p><p>The new phones will sport 4.5-inch screens, 1GB RAM, two cameras (5 megapixel rear, 2 megapixel front), quad-core MediaTek processors, dual-SIM slots and microSD expandable storage, as well as FM radios. The devices also support various languages, including Hindi, and Google Play Newsstand will provide local publications.&nbsp;</p><p>The Android Ones have now opened for availability in India today, with a starting off-contract price of Rs 6,399 (roughly $105 USD). In addition to Micromax, Karbonn and Spice, and chipmaker MediaTek, Google also announced partnerships with other phone makers and hardware vendors, including Acer, Alcatel Onetouch, ASUS, HTC, Intex, Lava, Lenovo, Panasonic and Xolo, as well as chipmaker Qualcomm.&nbsp;</p><p>With these deals, the tech giant hopes to see a variety of bargain Android Ones in different display sizes, colors, hardware specs and custom software. </p><p>Beyond India, Google plans to extend Android One to Indonesia, the Philippines and South Asia (covering Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) by the end of 2014, with other markets to follow next year.&nbsp;</p><p>Google has released a promo for the Android One (below). Oddly, the spot shows very little of the phone or its features, so for more information, check out the <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.sg/2014/09/for-next-five-billion-android-one.html">company's blog post</a>.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Lead photo from Google promo video, screenshot by Adriana Lee for ReadWrite. Android One product shot courtesy of Google.&nbsp;</em></p>Google sets off march of cheap Androids.http://readwrite.com/2014/09/15/android-one-budget-smartphone-india-emerging
http://readwrite.com/2014/09/15/android-one-budget-smartphone-india-emergingMobileMon, 15 Sep 2014 09:07:47 -0700Adriana LeeDrag Queens Read Facebook's Real-Names Policy For Filth<!-- tml-version="2" --><div tml-image="ci01a87e1f7319860f" tml-image-caption=""><figure><img src="http://a4.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,w_620/MTI0NTE5MDk5OTQ1NTEyNDkw.png" /><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div><p>Facebook is forcing people to use "real" names, a move that could&nbsp;<a href="http://www.dailydot.com/lifestyle/facebook-demands-drag-queens-change-names/">destroy the privacy</a> of people who use stage names or pseudonyms online for both safety and personal reasons.</p><p>The social network has long had a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/help/112146705538576">"real identity" policy</a>, requiring people to use their legal names. But enforcement of the policy seems to have stepped up recently. Facebook recently emailed some high-profile users of stage names or pseudonyms informing them that they'd be locked out of their accounts until they changed the name on their account.</p><h2>How Real Are "Real" Names?</h2><p>One of them is&nbsp;<a href="http://www.dailydot.com/lifestyle/facebook-demands-drag-queens-change-names/">Sister Roma</a>, a well-known member of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a San Francisco-based activist group whose members often appear in public in drag. Activists like Roma often use their&nbsp;stage names on Facebook, as that's how most of their friends and acquaintances know them.</p><p>Roma is now reluctantly going by her "real" name, Michael Williams. She wrote in a Facebook post that she is <a href="https://www.facebook.com/roma.roma/posts/10152704875869761">considering deleting her profile entirely</a>.</p><p>In an effort to stop Facebook from targeting people who use pseudonyms on the social network, drag queen Olivia La Garce <a href="https://www.change.org/p/facebook-allow-performers-to-use-their-stage-names-on-their-facebook-accounts">launched a Change.org petition</a> asking the social network to let performers use their stage names on Facebook accounts.</p><p>She writes:</p><blockquote><p>Although our names might not be our "legal" birth names, they are still an integral part of our identities, both personally and to our communities. These are the names we are known by and call each other and ourselves. We build our networks, community, and audience under the names we have chosen, and forcing us to switch our names after years of operating under them has caused nothing but confusion and pain by preventing us from presenting our profiles under the names we have built them up with.&nbsp;</p></blockquote><p>La Garce also points out in a post on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/olivia.lagarce/posts/646044305516752">her personal Facebook page</a> that thousands of people claim to have the name "Glen Coco," a fictional star in the movie <em>Mean Girls.&nbsp;</em></p><p>Drag queens aren't the only users targeted by the "real name" controversy. Facebook forced Hawaiian <a href="https://www.facebook.com/chase.n.silva/posts/10202642711094565">Chase Nahooikaikakeolamauloaokalani Silva</a> to change his name, too.</p><p>Google faced its own name controversy when it launched the Google+ social network and applied heavy restrictions on what names people can use. The so-called <a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/07/15/google-plus-name-restrictions-youtube-pseudonyms-trolls">#nymwars ended</a> in July when Google finally eliminated naming restrictions.&nbsp;</p><p>Danah Boyd, a social media scholar and researcher at Microsoft, calls the "real name" policies abuses of power. In<a href="http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2011/08/04/real-names.html">&nbsp;2011</a>, she criticized Google+ and Facebook for their haphazard name requirements:</p><blockquote><p>What’s at stake is people’s right to protect themselves, their right to actually maintain a form of control that gives them safety. If companies like Facebook and Google are actually committed to the safety of its users, they need to take these complaints seriously. Not everyone is safer by giving out their real name. Quite the opposite; many people are far LESS safe when they are identifiable. And those who are least safe are often those who are most vulnerable.</p></blockquote><p>It seems quite obvious: Many people don't want to share their real names on the Internet. Yet social media companies still resist this reality.</p><p>Facebook told us&nbsp;that if people want to use a pseudonymous name, they have other options:</p><blockquote><p>If people want to use an alternative name on Facebook, they have several different options available to them, including providing an alias under their name on their profile, or creating a Page specifically for that alternative persona.&nbsp;As part of our overall standards, we ask that people who use Facebook provide their real name on their profile.</p></blockquote><p>That's not an acceptable answer for many. Facebook's proposal that drag queens, activists, and other name-variant individuals use Pages deprives them of several key features of the social network, including sending and accepting friend requests and writing private posts.</p><p>Considering Facebook's recent <a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/04/11/facebook-privacy-controls-hand-them-over">efforts to increase user privacy</a>, and the social network's option to <a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/02/13/facebook-provides-50-new-gender-identity-options">select from more than 50 genders</a> when filling out personal information, its blindness when it comes to self-expression around something as private and personal as a name is confusing.</p><p>Earlier this year, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-30/facebook-turns-10-the-mark-zuckerberg-interview#p3">suggested in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek</a> that the company might soften its stance on real identity:</p><blockquote><p>I don’t know if the balance has swung too far, but I definitely think we’re at the point where we don’t need to keep on only doing real identity things. If you’re always under the pressure of real identity, I think that is somewhat of a burden.</p></blockquote><p>Here's how Zuckerberg could lift that burden: Facebook could ask for users' real names as part of their account information, then allow them to put privacy settings on who can see them (perhaps no one), while displaying an alternate name to the rest of the world.&nbsp;</p><p>That would satisfy Facebook's desire to know its users' legal names while protecting activists and others who prefer to serve up realness under a different name.</p><p><em>Photo by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrishunkeler/6917605670">Chris Hunkeler</a></em></p>Not today, social-networking Satan.http://readwrite.com/2014/09/12/facebook-drag-queens-real-name-controversy
http://readwrite.com/2014/09/12/facebook-drag-queens-real-name-controversySocialFri, 12 Sep 2014 14:25:15 -0700Selena LarsonGoogle Spits In Verizon's Eye, Asserts Support For Wireless Net Neutrality<!-- tml-version="2" --><div tml-image="ci01a8bfd81d51860b" tml-image-caption=""><figure><img src="http://a5.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTE5NDg0MDYzNjY1NTIyMTkx.jpg" /><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div><p>Four years ago, Google dismayed open-Internet supporters when it joined with Verizon to argue that net-neutrality rules—that is, regulations that keep cable and telecom companies from speeding or impeding Internet traffic based on who sends it—<a href="http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2010/08/joint-policy-proposal-for-open-internet.html">shouldn't apply to wireless networks</a>.</p><p>The FCC later adopted that policy in its own net-neutrality regulations, which a federal court <a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/01/15/net-neutrality-fcc-verizon-open-internet-order">struck down earlier this year</a> for unrelated legal reasons. Yet Google appears to have had second thoughts on the matter.</p><blockquote><p><strong>See also: <a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/05/16/net-neutrality-fcc-proposal-open-internet">Net Neutrality—Your Cheat Sheet To The FCC's Proposal</a></strong></p></blockquote><p>This week, Google emailed&nbsp;subscribers to its “Take Action” newsletter, encouraging them to “support a free and open Internet.” And that has a new and specific meaning, according to Google's <a href="https://takeaction.withgoogle.com/page/s/net-neutrality">latest post on its Take Action&nbsp;website</a>&nbsp;(emphasis added):</p><blockquote><p>That means no Internet access provider should block or degrade Internet traffic, nor should they sell ‘fast lanes’ that prioritize particular Internet services over others. <strong>These rules should apply regardless of whether you’re accessing the Internet using a cable connection, a wireless service, or any other technology.</strong></p></blockquote><p>That's a big change from Google’s <a href="http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2010/08/joint-policy-proposal-for-open-internet.html">2010 blog post</a> about its Verizon partnership (emphasis added):</p><blockquote><p>Sixth, we both recognize that wireless broadband is different from the traditional wireline world, in part because the mobile marketplace is more competitive and changing rapidly. In recognition of the still-nascent nature of the wireless broadband marketplace,<strong> under this proposal we would not now apply most of the wireline principles to wireless</strong>, except for the transparency requirement. In addition, the Government Accountability Office would be required to report to Congress annually on developments in the wireless broadband marketplace, and whether or not current policies are working to protect consumers.</p></blockquote><p>Google’s campaign comes at a particularly timely moment while the FCC is debating a new net-neutrality proposal. As outlined by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in May, that proposal would also exempt wireless carriers from most net-neutrality rules, although the commission declared its willingness to consider extending broader regulation to wireless as well.</p><p><em>Image courtesy of Shutterstock</em></p>Turnabout is fair play.http://readwrite.com/2014/09/12/google-net-neutrality-verizon-flip-flop
http://readwrite.com/2014/09/12/google-net-neutrality-verizon-flip-flopWebFri, 12 Sep 2014 13:47:24 -0700Lauren OrsiniWhy Machine Vision Is On Track To Surpass Human Sight<!-- tml-version="2" --><p>Computers are now almost as good at visual object recognition as people are.</p><p>The proof is in the <a href="http://arxiv.org/abs/1409.0575">ImageNet Large-Scale Visual Recognition Challenge</a>, an annual contest for scientists attempting to developing a robotic equivalent to human vision. Contestants must develop computer algorithms that can identify objects that exist in certain images.</p><p>To date, eyeless computers have had a hard time parsing millions of images and extracting, say, the 15 or so that feature zebras. But since 2012, computers in the challenge have been gaining on people, and are likely to surpass us in this department in a couple of years. </p><p>What changed in 2012? A team from the University of Toronto in Canada entered an algorithm called SuperVision, which used a <a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/view/530561/the-revolutionary-technique-that-quietly-changed-machine-vision-forever/">deep convolutional neural network</a> to divide the million plus images of the challenge into 1,000 separate classes.</p><p>Invented in the early 1980s, deep convolutional neural networks consist of multiple layers of artificial neurons arranged in a way that reflects the way the human brain processes vision. As Moore’s Law made computing technology more powerful, these networks grew more capable of imitating the way actual neural networks operate. </p><p>Today, deep convolutional neural networks are even more impressive. This year’s ImageNet winner was <a href="http://googleresearch.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/building-deeper-understanding-of-images.html">GoogLeNet</a>, an algorithm invented by a team of Google engineers that had only a 6.65% error rate, close to the human error rate for the same task. </p><blockquote><p><strong>See also: <a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/01/06/why-pinterest-needs-to-upgrade-visual-search-stat">Why Pinterest Needs To Upgrade Visual Search Stat</a></strong></p></blockquote><p>As the Visual Web becomes a greater and greater part of the Internet, we are seeing an increased usage of visual learning. Pinterest acquired VisualGraph, a machine vision company that can isolate types of handbags and clothing out of images. Imgur already uses a less precise form of machine vision, which <a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/07/17/imgur-tags-visual-web">identifies the Impact font</a> at the top and bottom of memes that designates the photo as an image macro.</p><p>For Google engineer <a href="http://googleresearch.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/building-deeper-understanding-of-images.html">Christian Szegedy</a>, who worked on the GoogLeNet project, the technological applications for machine vision may far surpass the number of ways we use our human eyes. He wrote:</p><blockquote><p>These technological advances will enable even better image understanding on our side and the progress is directly transferable to Google products such as photo search, image search, YouTube, self-driving cars, and any place where it is useful to understand what is in an image as well as where things are.</p></blockquote><p><em>Photo courtesy of the&nbsp;<a href="http://googleresearch.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/building-deeper-understanding-of-images.html">Google Research Blog</a></em></p>Computers combine the eye with a much bigger brain.http://readwrite.com/2014/09/11/machine-vision-surpass-human-sight
http://readwrite.com/2014/09/11/machine-vision-surpass-human-sightHackThu, 11 Sep 2014 10:19:35 -0700Lauren Orsini